Irish international Anthony Foley tonight urged his Munster team-mates to "do it for Declan" when they tackle Heineken Cup semi-final opponents Castres on Saturday.

Irish international Anthony Foley tonight urged his Munster team-mates to "do it for Declan" when they tackle Heineken Cup semi-final opponents Castres on Saturday.

Munster are targeting a second European final in three seasons, having reached the last four by eliminating powerful French outfit Stade Francais.

And Foley knows that Munster have got all the motivation they require ahead of Saturday's clash at Stade de La Mediterranee in Bezier.

It is coach Declan Kidney's farewell season before joining the Irish national set-up while long-serving prop Peter Clohessy hangs up his boots next month following a 50-cap Test career.

Failure at the penultimate Heineken Cup hurdle - Leicester or Llanelli awaits at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium next month - would be a bitter pill to swallow.

"None of us wants this to be our last game together in the Heineken Cup," said number eight Foley.

"We have enjoyed the last three years together, and it would be nice to give it a big heave and get to the final for Declan and Peter.

"Each player will have his own motivation to reach the Heineken Cup final, but I know that we will all want to do it for those two."

Munster have already met Gregor Townsend's Castres twice in the competition this season.

They were pool stage rivals, with Munster beating the French 28-23 at home, but losing on their travels 21-13, a result that meant Castres topped the qualifying group and meant Munster going through as a best runner-up.

Since that last meeting, though, Castres have slumped in the French Championship, failing to secure a play-off place following successive defeats against Pau Bordeaux-Begles, Agen and Perpignan.

But Foley is aware that any side containing the likes of Scotland playmaker Townsend, French Grand Slam hooker Raphael Ibanez and the Heineken Cup's top try-scorer this term, wing Ugo Mola cannot be taken lightly.

"Both teams know each other pretty well now, having played against each other four times in the past 18 months," Foley added.

"And from our point of view, we know that if we don't produce our best form, then we are going to come off second-best.

"We tasted defeat at this semi-final stage only last season, and the year before that we lost in the final. They were hard to take, and we will be doing our best to try and put the record straight.

"If we get to the final, then we will have had to play all our knock-out games away from home, so the only way we can do it is the hard way.

"Castres have a massive pack, they are very physical around the field, and also have Gregor to run the show at fly-half.

"At his best, Gregor is probably the best number 10 in the northern hemisphere," Foley added.

"Castres beat us the last time we played, so they will go into the game with the extra edge. History shows that very few teams win away from home in the semi-finals."

While Castres have had a busy recent schedule, Munster played their first game for 12 weeks last Friday night when they drew 6-6 with Leinster in the Irish Inter-provincial Championship.

"With our three-tier structure in Ireland, some of the lads have been playing against each other in club matches, joining forces for Ireland or Ireland A, but we hadn't played as Munster for almost 12 weeks," Foley said.

"We have to try to get the players back to the stage we were at when we beat Stade Francais in the quarter-finals.

"That is the kind of performance and momentum we will need to face Castres."

Saturday's encounter is a 20,400 sell-out, with Munster's traditional hordes of travelling fans starting to arrive in the south of France today.

English referee Chris White will take charge of a tie which is the 13th semi-final in Heineken Cup history.

Nine of those 12 previous encounters have been won by the "home" side, a statistic which underlines exactly how big a task Munster, for all their considerable European experience, face.